Antihistamines like diphenhydramine — the active ingredient in Benadryl, Tylenol PM and many cold medicines — are prescribed and sold over the counter to combat allergic reactions, dry up congestion and aid sleep. While these drugs are useful, they also leave users feeling confused, sleepy and dizzy. This much is apparent from the inside sticker on a bottle of Benadryl tablets, which warns that “drowsiness may occur” and to “be careful when driving a motor vehicle.” However, another, ...read more
When dogs give birth, they call it whelping. For horses, the term is foaling and for cows it’s calving. But when a cat gets pregnant, veterinarians and breeders use the term queening to refer to the process of feline birth. Of course they do: An expectant cat — the queen herself — wouldn’t have it any other way.But how long does the queen reign? How long are cats pregnant? How can you tell if your cat is pregnant — and for that matter, how can you tell how far along they are? Here’s ...read more
When meeting potential partners, some of us are more aloof or act uninterested.Charles Darwin noted this idea of playing hard-to-get in regards to mating back in 1871, which some have interpreted as coyness. This term, as defined by the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, refers to “the fact of being shy or of pretending to be shy and innocent, especially about love or sex, and sometimes in order to make people more interested in you.”Sound familiar? Research has actually documented this behavior ...read more
A new fossil discovery bolsters an idea first proposed in 2005: Early mammals that lived during the Cretaceous Period were not just shrinking violets, little shrews hiding in the shadows of dinosaurs. As the new thinking goes, some of the mammals were predators themselves that attacked and ate small dinosaurs and their young.The new fossil from China shows a small, badger-like predator, a Repenomamus robustus, on top of a Psittacosaurus, a beaked herbivorous dinosaur about the size of a large do ...read more
When a parent smacks a child’s hand or swats their butt, they may think they’ve merely “spanked” their child. So it might be surprising to learn that scholars actually refer to these spanks as “corporal punishment.”Parents might also find it unsettling to learn that some scholars have described spanking as most children’s “first experience of being the victim of a deliberate physical attack.”Scientists are trying to understand more about childhood spanking and how it affects ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
